Saturday, July 9, 2011

Pulp Fiction meets Requiem for a Dream?

Sick City: A Novel by Tony O'neill

This is a comletely fictitious tale (no new "facts" here folks)... but, the book has recieved 100% positve feedback from 13 "raving" reviewers on Amazon... so, if you're into this kinda stuff... it may be a fabulous read.

In short: "Aging, drug-snarfing rent-boy Jeffrey inherits one hell of a hand-me-down from his suddenly dead ex-cop lover: a 16mm film featuring Sharon Tate at the center of an all-star Hollywood gangbang. Checking himself into rehab, Jeffrey meets Randal, a meth-using son of movie-industry royalty, and the two of them plot to fence the film. For them, this is honest work, but their utter lack of willpower means they keep shooting themselves in the foot (and arm, leg, and neck)".http://www.amazon.com/Sick-City-Novel-Tony-Oneill/dp/0061789747/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1310165608&sr=8-1Book Submitted by Shak El! Thanks Shak El!

"Click" Below to read a few really positive reviews....

SICK CITY is set in Los Angeles, though the events described here could take place in virtually any city or country where the illicit drug trade has taken hold. But L.A. is arguably the perfect tableau for it, given that location's reputation as a place where dreams come true or are shattered, and everything and everyone is for sale.

Tony O'Neill's novel is about drugs and the people who take them and are addicted to them. Pure and simple with no apologies. O'Neill knows of what he speaks and writes authoritatively on the subject. What SICK CITY does is takes the grit and grime of, say, NAKED LUNCH by William Burroughs and makes it coherent --- no cut-up technique here --- within the context of a caper novel, as imagined by Elmore Leonard. To put it another way, it consists of the parts of the movie Pulp Fiction that couldn't be filmed. The camera lens would have burned out.

SICK CITY neither explicitly condemns nor implicitly glorifies drug addiction. It simply provides an unblinking and stark look at the lives of a number of people, including a down-and-out exotic dancer, a homosexual prostitute in denial, a host of addicts and drug dealers, and a drug rehabilitation guru who is nursing his own nasty little secret. Points of view change frequently, and you might want to take this book in one long sitting in order to appreciate just how fascinating it is to watch everyone's lives intersect with each other. When the dust settles and the smoke clears, however, the book is about Jeffrey and Randall, two irredeemable junkies who acquire --- along with cash and some extremely strong controlled substances --- a sex tape involving Sharon Tate and a number of deceased celebrities. They want to sell it for a fortune --- gainful employment is not high on the "to do" list of either gentleman --- but along the way they attract the attention and ire of Pat, an extremely dangerous and unbalanced drug dealer who is out for revenge.

Most of SICK CITY occurs where the buses don't run, and even if they did, those who are in their right minds would never want to go there. And if you wandered into those areas by accident, you would call OnStar to come send a helicopter to get you the heck out. Even if you have not led a sheltered life, there are scenes here that you have never encountered before and probably never will see again: acts of physical and sexual violence --- some voluntary, some not so much --- that you would be hard-pressed to make up on your own. O'Neill's writing is shot through with such straight-ahead prose that the book reads more like a documentary, in the best sense, than a work of fiction.

And, while I have the feeling that this was not his intent, it is possibly one of the most anti-drug treatises I have ever read. The subject matter is such that you wouldn't read it to your 12-year-old, yet if you wanted to warn them away from that first hit of speed, SICK CITY would be the perfect vehicle to utilize. By the time you felt they were old enough to handle all of the material, it would probably be too late.

SICK CITY makes Jim Thompson's novels look like Little Golden Books. And I love Thompson's work. There were times that I wondered, Why are you reading this? But just like Jeffrey and Randal, I couldn't stop. And I'm going to find O'Neill's other novels, too. By the way, the Mark Twain Hotel that O'Neill describes here is a real place.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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Sick City is pretty raw stuff. More plot-driven than Tony O'Neill's memoirish other books but still set in the same milieu (junkies scrabbling to get it together in LA, but just digging themselves deeper in a series of harrowing and sometimes hilarious setpieces), the novel is an excellent, disturbing, entertaining, and illuminating chronicle of two guys trying to sell the ultimate porn tape. They have all the tools to get rich, they just can't stop screwing up.
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I read this cover to cover on an airplane and the time flew by. I was completely emersed in the characters and the story. This is the first book I've read by O'Neill and I will certainly be coming back for more. Slash's blurb on the front cover couldn't have been more accurate.

Okay if nobody is going to talk about this book, I'm going to talk about Casey Anthony. LOL.

Well....today's scuttlebutt is that the attorney for "Zanny the Nanny" is going to depose Casey the day after she's released.

He's reported to be a "tough guy" that pulls ALL the punches.

This is going to be interesting. He can ask her ANYTHING he wants, even in the presence of her counsel (you know the "skin" and the old man). And if she lies....then on the stand she has to continue that lie, and be guilty of perjury. Hoo hoo!!

Little Casey thought she beat the rap. That she was going to have the bella vita. The cash cow is now hers. Think again bitch.

George Anthony and Lee Anthony can BOTH file civil suits against Casey AND her defense (skins & old man) because of the molestation accusations, which of course, they didn't prove, AND they were told by the judge, they can't bring that up in closing arguments, because they never proved it.

Zanny the Nanny: (the fictious nanny that Casey claimed over and over "kidnapped" her daughter).

the ex-fiance: This poor dope was brought in years after he wanted to marry this cunt, only to be dumped by her, as she found a new boyfriend named "Tony". He was accused falsely of having something to do with Caylee's death.

The father & brother: they were accused of molesting Casey falsely, Lee was accused of being Caylee's father (proved false by DNA) and George was accused of dumping Caylee's body (which he didn't, never proved).

That's the list so far.

She also told police she worked for Universal City, and that was just another lie.

I'm wondering if they will sue her too.

Let's all jump on the "money train".

HA HA HA!!!

Gotta love it!! If the justice system fails the victim....the perp won't prevail.

The book is written by an author of a new literary movement called the Brutalists. The main theme is drug addiction from the addicts side. Its completely amoral. Lots of explicit drug scenes and violence. Main plot is two junkees of which one inherited a film of Tate from a police officer who stole it from the Tate crime scene. They try to fence it all the while the entire city seems to be wanting to rip them off....

LynyrdSkynyrdBand said:"It seems the Tarrantino-style movies, have become quite popular, in recent years.I have to admit... I like some of them myself."

You mean like "Kill Bill"? I love those movies! I watch 'em when i'm pissed off, and whoop it up during the fight scenes. Especially when the Bride fights Elle Driver, and she plucks that bitch's eye out? Yowza!! Gets me amped! When my husband hears me whistling like Elle does at the start of vol 1, he knows what's up. "Oh boy ... have you been watching "Kill Bill"? Yuuuuuup!Of course, "Pulp Fiction" is great too, and "Jackie Brown". Great casts in those movies...

While looking into this book (Sick City), I came across a very interesting article called "Charles Manson, Please Save Marriage and Family Therapy" by Dr. David Schnarch (Psychology Today, 2010). I studied with Schnarch in grad school - an extremely intense dude, very funny and ironic, and an incredible marriage therapist - so i checked it out. For anyone into psychology and Charlie, it's fascinating stuff. Here's an excerpt, the term "mind-mapping" he explains earlier in the article, but it's clear what he means:

"I’m not enamored with Charles Manson. But it is clear Manson’s Svengali-like ability to manipulate other people stems from his excellent mind-mapping ability. Successful sociopaths, con artists, and good liars—people utterly devoid of empathy for others—are usually incredibly good “trackers” because mind-mapping doesn’t necessarily involve attachment or empathy. Yes, good empathy skills involve mind-mapping, but people who lack any capacity to invest in another human being can, and do, have excellent mind-mapping ability. They use this to manipulate other people for their own ends. They are not totally heedless of their impact on others, they just don’t give a damn (at best), or enjoy exploiting or getting over on others."

Schnarch is making a point about competing theories in MFT, but i found the stuff about sociopaths and mind-mapping, and how people come to be like Charlie, to be really interesting.

If you want to see the whole article, heres the address:http://crucible4points.com/charles-manson-please-save-marriage-family-therapy

Dr. Schnarch is a nut - started his class by mentioning his name and saying, "yes, i know, great name for a sex therapist. Feel free to call me Dr. Snatch". But, if you are in a relationship and want to make it better, i recommend his work. It is strong stuff.

FRIENDS

"Charlie Manson is a five foot seven schizophrenic, who if it weren't for the murder of Sharon Tate, would never be known or discussed. And I'm not saying he isn't funny and entertaining. I'm saying he's a dime a dozen criminal-class punk, who had the good fortune of running into some middle class pseudo-revolutionary white girls." -- Tom G

"The simple and undeniable truth, is that Charlie and the gang were/are the biggest idiots, morons and imbeciles on the planet." -- Leary7

"Them fucking fruitcakes could not pour piss out of a boot, with the bottom written on it."--Harold True